A Living Memorial

About this Chapter

A Living Memorial explores the role of chaplains in the burial of fallen soldiers and the symbolism and significance of grave sites. This chapter also reflects on how those left behind responded to the burial of their loved ones overseas.

There are numerous ways to catalog the dead who sacrificed their lives in The Great War: between eight and ten million military dead with over 7 million more from the surrounding civilian populace. Within this mortality count, approximately 116,500 were Americans; the Graves Registration Service calculated 80,178 deaths or missing in action. Among the American dead, about 46% died in or directly from battles while the remainder lost their lives to disease, accidents, and training incidents.

This chapter is part of the iBook Bringing the Great War Home: Teaching With The Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, which was produced by ABMC in partnership with Learn NC and Virginia Tech. You can access individual elements of the iBook here on ABMC.gov, or you can download the full iBook through iTunes

In this Chapter:

  • Section 1: The American Cemetery at the Meuse-Argonne
  • Section 2: Burying the Dead: Saluting the Work of American Chaplains at the Meuse-Argonne
  • Section 3: Post-War Burial of the Dead at the Meuse Argonne Cemetery
  • Section 4: Remembering the Dead: The Role of Gold Star Mothers Pilgrimages to the Meuse-Argonne
  • Section 5: Conclusion
  • Section 6: Bibliography
  • Section 7: Video Transcription
  • Section 8: Credits and Disclaimer
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